Improvement in folding settees



HENFWTMORSES mproved illding Setta@ PATENT@ JULZ 1871 Y "WITNESSES,

UrrED STATES PATENT FFICE.

HENRY T. MORSE, OF ATHOL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO LABAN MORSE AND LEANDER B. MORSE, OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING SETTEES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 117,315, dated July 25, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY T. MORSE, of Athol, in the county of Worcester and State'of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Settees, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification.

My invention relates, in the first place, to an improved device for securing the legs ofthe settee in position when in use; and it consists in the use of a tie-brace hinged at two or more points to the front leg, and provided with holes at its opposite end which fit onto hooked pins inserted in the side of the rear leg in such a manner that, when the tie-brace is swung around into place, said hook-pins will enter said holes, and a slight movement of the rear legs will cause said pins to hook onto the brace and serve to hold it in position. It also consists in the employment of a jointed diagonal brace, one end of which is secured to either the rear or front leg, and the other to the seat in such a manner as to hold said legs in their proper relation to the seat, and also to cause the hook-pins and tie-brace to be so hooked and held together that th ey cannot be easily separa-ted until the jointed brace is bent from a straight line. My invention relates, in the second place, to the construction of the joint ofthe iblding-arm brace for supporting the back, and the manner of locking the same in position to hold the back up; and it consists in forming a recess in one of the parts of the arm of a circular form, in the bottom of which is an abutment placed upon one side thereof, and raised about one-half the depth of the recess, its two ends being perpendicular to the bottom of the recess, and radiatin g from the center ofthe same 5 and in forming on the end of the other part of the arm a circular hub to iit into the recess in the end of the before-mentioned part, so as to form an axis or journal around which the arm may revolve, a portion of said hub being cut away to make room for the abutment in the recess to move, the portion of the hub which is left full length being out so that its sides will radiate from its center, and of such a size and in such a position that whentlle arm is straight, so as to hold the back in the proper position, one of the radial surfaces on the hu-b will come in contact with one of the radial surfaces ofthe abutment and prevent any further movement of the joint in that direction,

the two parts of the arm or brace being held together by a central pin or rivet. It also consists in the employment of a locking-bolt in the upper side oi' the joint end of the upper portion of the brace, its head or upper end being in a recess in the arm portion of the brace, and so protected thereby that, while it is readily accessible for the purpose of operating it, it does not in the least interfere with the clothing, and the lower end projects into a recess or notch formed in the hub on the lower portion of the brace and locks the joint, as will be more fully explained.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a settee with my improvements attached. Fig. 2 is a trans verse section on line w fr on Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line y y on Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line z z on Fig. 3, showing the manner of attaching the tie-brace drawn to a larger scale. Fig. 5 is a plan of the under side of the settee wheni'olded. Fig. 6 is an end view of the settee folded, and Figs. 7, 8, 9, l0, 11, and 12 are details ofthe arm-joint and locking device drawn to an enlarged scale.

A is the seat-frame, to the upper side of which are screwed the slats A to form the seat. B Bl are cylindrical rolls or stretchers, into which are permanently secured the legs O O. B2 is a similar cylindrical roll, which forms the lower rail of the back, and by which the back is secured to the seat. v I) l) are metallic bands surrounding' the cylindrical rolls, and by which they are secured to the seat, as fully set forth and described in the Letters Patent granted to me January 3l, 1871. E E are the tie-braces which tie the front and rear legs together, provided with eyes a a at either end, and hinged to the front legs O by means of staples b b driven into the leg after being passed through the eye c in an obvious manner, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Into theside of the rear leg O are driven or screwed two hookpins, c c, at right angles to the tie-brace when in position, so that when the said tie-brace is swung around the hook-pins c will enter the eyes c af, so that the hook-portion of the pins shall project through the tie-brace, as shown in Fig. 4. F is a jointed brace, one end of which is pivoted to the rear leg Cf, while the other end is pivoted to one of the cross-pieces ofthe frame A. The joint in the middle of this brace may be of the same construction as I use for the arm-brace, to be described, and when locked becomes a rigid brace,

to hold the leg iirmly in its proper position, and also serves to hold the tie-brace and hook-pin in contact, so that theyT will not easily be unhooked until the brace F is moved out of a straight line.

G and Gl are the two parts of the arm-brace, the part G1 being provided with the arm-rest G2. The piece G1 is secured at its rear end to the end upright of the back by a pin, upon which it is free to revolve. At the junction of the parts G1 and G2 is formed a disk or hub, in the inner side of which is formed a recess, e, a small portion of Which, on one side, is not as deep as the rest, the two edges of which are perpendicular to the bottom of the recess, and radiate from the center of the same, as seen in Figs. 9 and 10 at e. The upper end ofthe part G is provided with a hub, d, to fit the recess in the part G1, a portion of which is made of a length equal to the greatest depth of the recess e, while the rest of the hub is made of a length equal to the depth of said recess to the top of the abutment e; the'projeeting portion of the hub d and the abutment e', being in the saine plane, serve as a stop to limit the movement of the two parts of the arm-brace around their common aXis. The lower end of the part G is pivoted to the seat in any suitable manner. H is a locking-pin or bolt having its bearing in the part G1, and so arranged as to drop, by the action of gravity, into the notch o formed in the hub d, to hold the arm-brace rigid when in the proper position to hold the back up. The

head or upper end of the pin H is inclosed in the recessf formed in the armpiece G2, so as to prevent it from injuring clothing. The two parts G and G1 of the arm-brace are secured together by the central pin or rivet g, in an obvious manner.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

l. In a folding seat, the tie-brace E hinged to one leg at two or more points, in combination with hook-pins c 0 inserted in an opposite leg, substantially as described.

2. In combination with the tie-braces E hinged to one leg at two or more points, and hooking onto the hook-pins c c inserted in an opposite leg, 011e or more diagonal braces, F, applied and operating substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

3. In combination with a seat, the back of which is arranged to fold down upon the seat, a folding arm-brace, consisting of the parts G and G1, and provided with the arm-rest G2, when said parts are coupled together by means of a stop joint and secured by the locking-pin H, z ll `constructed and arranged substantially as herein described, for the purposes specified.

Executed at Athol this 6th day of May, 1871.

HENRY T. MORSE.

WVitnesses F. F. FAY, GEO. R. HANsoN. 

